Santa Barbara Unified Officials Visit Governor Newsom’s Mansion

Superintendent and School Boardmember Meet with Governor About District’s ‘Off and Away’ Police for Cell Phones

Credit: Courtesy

Santa Barbara Unified Superintendent Hilda Maldonado and School Boardmember Gabe Escobedo visited the governor’s mansion — alongside representatives from the California Teachers Association and other leaders in academia — last month to meet with Gavin Newsom about the school district’s “Off and Away” policy for cell phones.

The “Off and Away” policy primarily came out of the teachers union’s push to address cell phone use in classrooms in 2022, and requires students to keep cell phones off and put away during class time. Governor Newsom praised the district for its efforts during the November 19 event, which included discussions on youth mental health and the development of cellphone policies in schools, as well as next steps in supporting schools to tackle the issue. Newsom just passed AB 3216, the Phone-Free School Act, in September. The law requires local education agencies, county offices of education, and charter schools to develop and adopt smartphone limitation policies by July 1, 2026.

According to Maldonado, since implementing the “Off and Away” policy, 75 percent of principals have reported an improvement in students’ mental health and engagement levels compared to previous years, and 94 percent of principals believe the cell phone policy positively impacted the learning environment.

“Santa Barbara Unified is one of the first school districts to implement a cell phone policy, and while we still have a long way to go, I am proud of the leadership from the district, our site leaders, and our union partners on this issue,” said Escobedo.